What Is It About London?

London is one of the world’s great cities. There’s so much to see and do that even if you were here for five years you still wouldn’t cover everything, but more and more people are trying! The latest stats from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on the UKs visitor numbers back up what we have claimed for years – London really is one of the best cities in the world.

The ONS 2015 tourist data represents a real boon for the UKs tourism industry – inbound visitors topped 35.8m for the sixth consecutive year of growth.

The director of visitbritain.org Patricia Yates said ‘this growth is really fantastic news for the UK economy and shows we’re on track to realise our ambition to grow international visits by more than 20% to 42 million by 2020, which could see an additional £4.5bn in visitor spend, as well as driving tourism across all our nations and regions with benefits felt across the whole of Britain.’

London will always attract the majority of visitors to the UK but there is a fear that the capital’s visitor numbers will decline, says Euromonitor travel analyst Wouter Geerts;‘with London airports nearing capacity, the capital risks losing out to European rivals. To remain competitive in the international city destinations landscape, ensuring connectivity and innovation is key.’

The arguments for additional runways at Heathrow and Gatwick seem to be a political hot potato no-one wants to touch but it’s an issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Geerts points to the success of the London 2012 Olympics as a driver for the rise in tourism but we’re not going to be able to dine out on that particular triumph for ever.

Of course if you are going to be one of the (estimated) 37m tourists to the UK in 2016, you’re going to need somewhere to stay. Here at Euracom, we have a selection of great apartments in London including corporate apartments in or close to the City and in the major commercial areas to budget apartments and vacation apartments in the heart of the bustling metropolis.

Don’t forget to call us on 020 8420 7666 or email info@euracom.co.uk to book your apartment in London for your summer holiday!